Is there anybody out there who has this condition? I was diagnosed a few months ago and still don't know much about it. Basically, I wake up not knowing what I did yesterday, very confused with no short term memory so I ask the same questions over and over again, which must be very irritating! This can last several hours. I only know what I've read on the internet, which varies depending on which site you visit. My consultant gave a name to my condition, but wouldn't get involved in any discussion about it. My doctor just increased my epilepsy medication. It would be so good to be able to talk to somebody who understands.

AIMac,

Please clarify for some of us what you refer as "an RTA".
I'm unclear on just what it is that was the precipitator of your head injury.

Many thanks,
Theta

I think RTA may mean Road Traffic Accident.

AIM,

I think you may be having seizures during sleep that prevents your brain from properly storing short term memories from the day before as long term memories. This may be a result of a sleep disorder or poor blood flow to the brain when you are sleeping.

When I have a bad night's sleep, I have similar memory problems. Rather than frustrating anybody, I just accept that I don't remember much of yesterday.

There may be other things at play. Tell us more about your injury and ongoing symptoms and we may be able to help more.

My best to you.

IMO memory can be over rated. When every day is a slog thru pain and confusion being obsessed with ones previous ability to recall is counter productive. I felt better and stressed less when I stopped worrying about it.

I still forget. If I have something in my hand and put it down, I know I may forget about it completely. This comes into play in a professional setting. But if you are here hopefully healing is your priority and not working. I am going on 3 weeks return to work.

The memory issue can be a big deal but I am restricted on duties and refuse to put or allow myself to be put in an unsafe position. In my line of work protocol and safety standards must be met. If not then my health and life as well as others are risked.

What I know all to well about memory is with a good safety net. Such as spouse, friends, family and hopefully one or more DR's memory matters very little. Where it does seem to matter is work performance. But then again if ones life centers around work and only work it does not leave much room for anything else. There is a world out there that has nothing to do with work and one only needs to step into it.

Can not stress how important it is to just be able to be in the moment and be aware. So many little success's and joys will happen and if we are not paying attention they will slip away while we are unaware.

It's not so much that I can't remember things, it's that there is no memory of them. I don't keep asking about yesterday because I don't know that I can't remember yesterday. The first couple of times I can remember knowing that I had no memory of the previous day, but since then it's always a complete blank. I just lose how ever many hours.
TEA is a recognised syndrome related to Temporal Lobe Epilepsy as the temporal lobe is to do with memory. There is no cure so it's something I must live with. It would be so good to find somebody else who has the same condition. Maybe I could find out what the future holds for me.

Your future is bright. There are many memory compensating skills for you to learn. The first is simply learning to not depend on your short term memory. I simply tell people that I have no clue to what happened yesterday. Even my wife forgets that I have memory problems.

Research shows that using smart phones to keep track of events and ideas can be very beneficial for people with memory problems. If I am working on a project and need to walk away, I make a note of where I am in the project and what the next step should be. This helps prevent me trying to do the same work over again.

Hope you can find similar skills. I ma sure the are plenty of ideas here for living with poor memory.

My best to you.

I have had Transient Epileptic Amnesia since 2009, and have suffered 29 seizures since then. They are always the same - I wake up in the morning and can't remember what I did yesterday. In the worst event, I did not know wy wife of 39 years. My neurologist has me on gabapentine and oxcarbazepine, which seem to lessen the severity of seizures, but I still get them. He tells me he is working on a new treatment plan, so we will see. I am only the second Transient Epileptic Amnesia he has worked with in 18 year of practice, so you can see it's pretty rare, and the docs don't have a lot of data to work with.

gr630,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. Did you know there is an Epilepsy forum? Here is a link, http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum11.html

I have occasional bouts with morning amnesia. I think they are due to my Central Sleep Apnea. I can be messed up for hours after waking up from a bad sleep episode with CSA. I usually need a good nap with good breathing to recover. When I have these episodes, I wake up wondering where I am, what the day is, even unable to differentiate between dreams and real life. It is very common for me to need to work to remember the previous day. I usually slowly rebuild my memory of the day.

I wonder if TEA has other causes other than epilepsy. Has your neuro put you on a brain nutrition regimen? It could be helpful.

My best to you.

I have had it since this past June 2013. It's so rare, neurologists don't acknowlege it as it's own condition. My doctor just calls it temporal lobe epilepsy. However, when I read descriptions of TEA episodes on the internet (example - The TIME Project) I know beyond a doubt that I have it. My doctor has me on Keppra, which has slowed the episodes down a bit, but has not stopped them. I have to convince her to let me try Lamictal.

I've had a similar experience with my doctors. I had my first experience in the spring of 2011 (my last semester of college) and every doctor I saw kept calling it panic attacks or assuming I was on drugs (even though all tox screens came up clean). It wasn't until about a year later that a doctor diagnosed me with epilepsy and I have responded pretty well to lamical. However, my doctor had never even heard of transient epileptic amnesia (she was calling my experience complex partial seizures) and I have had a difficult time convincing her that my experiences are real. For example, my episode last between 20 minutes and an hour or more and she insisted they could not be longer than 5 or ten minutes. I have many witnesses who can verify the episodes, but she still barely believes me! If anyone knows of a good neurologist in Massachusetts - let me know! I am in the market :-)